Valentine’s Day is such a fun time for kids. The love making Valentines for their friends and family. If you are looking for alternatives to store bought Valentines, then you came to the right place! Just the other day I had some great Valentines alternatives for you, and today I have some more Valentines crafts that are perfect for kids to use as their class Valentines. Best part is, they are super easy to make and put together! For this non-crafty mom, that is right up my alley!

*This post may contain affiliate links*

Aren’t these Valentines crafts super cute?!? There is truly something for everyone. With some paper, a printer and very minimal other supplies, you can have your kids class Valentines done in no time!

Valentines Crafts for Kids

Is your child into Minecraft? What about American Girl? Are they too old for the kiddish stuff, but love emoji’s? There is truly something for everyones taste here! You can print these out, tape them to a treat or pencil and BAM! You are done!

Valentines Tips

Let your kids pick out what they want to do. Trust me. If you try to steer them towards something, they won’t want to have anything to do with it and I am a huge stickler that they need to write their own name on the Valentines. They are from them, after all! Who cares if they can’t write their name very well. No one cares! Plus, it’s super cute AND they will be very proud of themselves and what they are taking to their friends at school!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I cannot believe it’s already February. As usual, the year is already flying by. For kids, Valentine’s day is super fun! From the moment they set foot in school, they get to make Valentines for their classmates. If you’re like me, by the time you get all the way through elementary school with the second child, you get a bit bored with the store bought Valentines. These homemade Valentines are super cute and easy to make! Your kids will love giving them to their classmates!

*This post may contain affiliate links*

The Best Homemade Valentines

Your kids will love taking one of these homemade Valentines to school. Especially if it’s the bubble gum Valentine. They would be the hero of the classroom with that Valentine! The teachers may not be as appreciative, but oh well! It’s all about the kids, right?!? So take a look at the list of Valentines below. Show them to your kids (or just pick one you wouldn’t mind putting together) and have a fun, crafty day! And if you’re a little uneasy about the crafty part, take it from me, as someone that is NOT crafty at all, I could easily put any of these Valentines together!

Which Valentine Do You Like Best?

The list below is such a fun list! Everything to put the homemade Valentines together can be purchased in bulk at the store or Amazon. Because I love the idea of someone else doing the shopping for me (and not leaving the house), I will find you the best Amazon deals I can so you can have your supplies delivered right to your doorstep!

Choosing the Right Homemade Valentine

Aren’t these cute?!? All of these can be put together pretty quickly and even small children can help! Young children can help put the Hershey Kisses in little bags. While older children are quite capable of doing most of the crafting involved with these Valentines! One recommendation, for the bouncy ball Valentine or the gum ball Valentine, tie the bags tightly. Your child’s teacher will thank you!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

When parents hear the words, “you may want to consider getting your child an appoint with an orthodontist”, they probably cringe. Not only is it a TON of money for orthodontic work, but lets face it, it’s a pain in the butt having to hound your kids to follow the braces directions. I’ve already been through braces with my son, now we are embarking on that journey with my daughter. Here are some helpful tips for kids with braces.

Did You Get Multiple Quotes?

If you’re like me, you got many different quotes for braces for your kids. Your quotes probably ranged from $3500 to $6500. Lucky me, my sons braces cost us over $6000. The frustrating part…you pay all this money to fix the teeth in their mouth, yet it does nothing for the actual teenage mouth! I’d totally pay extra to fix that teenage mouth! All joking aside, get multiple quotes.

Agree with the Treatment Plan

This probably seems obvious, but you wouldn’t believe how some people just go with everything and don’t ask questions. My son had a very narrow jaw and barely any room in his mouth for his teeth. One consultation we went on, the orthodontist wanted to pull 6 adult teeth to make room for the rest of his teeth. That did not make sense to me. The next consultation wanted to use an expander. That made sense to me and we ended up going with that office.

This week, my daughter got braces. She is one of those crazy kids that is super excited to have them! She thinks it’s fun to be able to pick different colors for the brackets. It’s hard to tell in this picture, but she went with dark green. Dark green is the color for her travel soccer team!

Braces are really no fun for anyone involved. They are no fun for parents having to pay the bill and they are no fun for kids going through the treatment. These tips for kids with braces are things I have found, either from my personal experience with braces or from my kids experience, that have helped us get through the different stages of treatment.

Tips, Tips, and More Tips

Flossing – Such an important aspect of taking care of our teeth. Probably more so when we have braces. Food gets stuck around the brackets, in between the teeth, and just sit and fester. Not good. The ortho will give you flossers that you thread under the wire to floss your teeth. They are time consuming and really hard to get right. Your best bet…get a Waterpik. They are amazing and work so much better than floss.

Mouthwash – There is a mouthwash by ACT that is specifically for braces. It has aloe in it to help soothe the gums. Get it! I found ours at Walmart.

Wax – Pick up some dental wax for braces (in the toothbrush section of the store). It takes a bit for kids to get used to having the brackets on their teeth. There will be some rubbing on the gums. The wax helps kids with braces by placing the wax on the area that is rubbing funny.

Eating Tip #1 – Soft foods are your friend. The first three days after they get them on and after each adjustment, are the worst. I always got my kids ice cream the first day. After that, soft foods are easiest for them.

Eating Tip #2 – If you are eating finger foods, break the food with your fingers into bites or cut with a fork and knife. The last thing you want to do is pop a bracket off or get food stuck in your braces at school. My husband has been making my daughters lunch for school and he cuts her sandwich into strips so it’s easier for her to break bites off.

Good Foods vs Bad Foods – It stinks to not be able to eat your favorite things. Make sure to have good foods available. Foods like fruit you don’t have to bite into, soft Nutri-Grain bars, etc. Things like chips, popcorn and sticky foods are no no’s.

Sound Helpful?

These six tips have been super helpful for my kids. Especially the Waterpik. I highly recommend that. At any rate, the hardest part (at least I think so) is getting the kids to not eat the foods that are banned and getting them to wear those rubber bands. I’m really hoping things go smoother for me (and my daughter) this time around. My son gave me a run for my money!

What are your best tips for kids with braces?

My husband and I are currently looking at new houses. We’ve wanted to move for the last 10 years. We’ve been in our current house for 15 years and when we moved in, we said we were only staying for five years. You can see how well that worked out! I’ve been into so many models. Some we like and some we don’t like at all. However, the best part is seeing how the different rooms are decorated. Recently, I saw an awesome bedroom with a swimmer theme. This DIY swimmers bedroom design is the best I’ve seen lately!

*This post may contain affiliate links*

Growing up, I was a competitive swimmer. I pretty much swam 5-6 days a week. My weekends were spent at swim meets all over the place. As my kids got older and they were starting to play sports, I really hoped and prayed I would get a swimmer out of one of them. Sadly, they were too into every other sport BUT swimming! Oh well! Maybe one of my grandkids one day!

DIY Swimmers Bedroom Ideas

So…as I was saying, we have been spending a lot of time checking out different model homes. This swimmers bedroom really caught my eye. I have scoured the internet trying to find that wallpaper behind the bed. While I haven’t found that particular wallpaper, I did find this one that is super cute and would look perfect on that wall too!

While the wallpaper in the room is super cool, what I really liked was the ceiling!

For the non-swimmers out there, what is on the ceiling mimics the bottom of a competitive swimming pool! Each individual lane has those lines. I think they would be super simple to make. With a little help, hanging them shouldn’t be too difficult either!

Decorating your Swimmers Bedroom

There are so many swimming related motivational posters out there. They would be great to hang on the wall. Like the model home bedroom, I would choose various shades of blue to decorate the room with pops of color.

Thanksgiving, in my opinion, is the best holiday ever. You don’t have to worry about gifts at all. Instead, you eat food and enjoy time with friends and family. What could be better than that?!? Another thing I look forward to this time of year is reflecting all of the things that we are thankful for. As adults, I think it is important for our kids to slow down a bit and reflect as well. That’s why I think this Thankful Thanksgiving Activity would be a perfect activity for kids to play on Thanksgiving!

*This post may contain affiliate links*

Thankful Thanksgiving Activity

Do you need an activity to keep the little ones occupied while you get dinner together? How about an activity that gets the kids talking about the different things they are thankful for? If you answered yes to either of those questions, then this Thankful Thanksgiving Activity is the FREE printable you have been looking for!

How to Use the FREE Printable

First, print your FREE Thankful Thanksgiving Activity printable. You can print one copy or print multiple. It’s up to you, but make sure you print them in color. Next, roll your multi-colored die. Take the color you land on and have the kids find the corresponding dot on the printable. Tell everyone what you are thankful for!

In this day and age, with everything going on in the world, if we can get the kids talking about what they are truly thankful for, then we are headed in the right direction. The more we have our kids focusing on the positives in life, the better. I know I am looking forward to doing this with my kids.

Current Giveaways!

FYI

All links on this site may be affiliate links and should be considered as such. Diaries of a Domestic Goddess is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. See our privacy policy for more information.